Huntington, W.Va. - Marshall volleyball will host the Tulane Green Wave and the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters in the "Fight like Hal" weekend at the Cam Henderson Center on Friday and Sunday.

Marshall enters the weekend 8-9 (2-0) after winning its last three matches, starting conference play 2-0. The Herd defeated FAU and FIU last week to open conference play. Marshall is led by senior outside hitter Laura Der (Clarksville, Ind.), who has recorded 131 kills, averaging 2.98 per set and 143 digs.

Marshall has been getting outstanding play from a trio of freshmen Cassie Weaver (Huntington), Elyse Panick (Chicago) and Ally Kiekover (Grand Rapids, Mich.). Kiekover leads the team with 162 kills while Weaver has tallied 127 and Panick has 121. The Thundering Herd is led by Mitch Jacobs who is in his 12th year as Marshall’s coach and 20th overall.

Setting the Way for the Herd

Junior setter Sammie Bane earned Conference USA Setter of the Week honors for her performance at Florida Atlantic and FIU (Sept. 27 & Sept. 29). Bane led Marshall to a pair of C-USA wins during opening weekend play. She collected 91 total assists for an 11.38 assist per set average while setting her team up for a .291 overall hitting efficiency which ranked second best in the league for the week.

Seeing Double

Four different players have recorded double-doubles on the season, senior outside hitter Laura Der has six, with one of those coming in a thrilling upset win over Maryland on Sept 21, when she tallied 18 kills and 16 digs. Junior Setter Sammie Bane has recorded five double-doubles including two against Eastern Kentucky this season while freshman outside hitter Elyse Panick, has earned two double-doubles including a 16 kill 15 dig performance in the upset win over Maryland. Freshman outside hitter Cassie Weaver earned two with last being in a 3-2 win over Kent State.

Scouting the Green Wave

Tulane enters the weekend 14-2 (1-1C-USA) with its only two loses coming at the hands of North Dakota and C-USA foe UTSA. The Green Wave are led by freshman outside hitter Tea Juric, who has tallied 218 kills and 149 digs while fellow freshman Annie Shurtz has chipped in with 195 kills and 128 digs. Tulane is led by fifth year head coach Sinsia Momic. The all-time series between the two schools is tied at 5 apiece.

"Tulane is 14-2, we have watched them on video and we see just how good they are," coach Mitch Jacobs said. "They are a heck of a ball club we are about to play."

Scouting the Lady Techsters

Louisiana Tech enters the weekend 6-11 (0-2 C-USA) after dropping seven of its last eight matches. The Lady Techsters are led by junior outside Rebecca Redgen, who has recorded 213 kills and average of 3.18 per set in her first season with the team and senior Caitilin Germany leads the team in blocks (42) and blocks per set (.70). LA Tech is led by second year head coach Adraino de Souza. This will be the first ever meeting between the schools.

"Fight Like Hal" Weekend Information

Marshall will be wearing purple for both matches this weekend. Purple is the color of the ribbon representing all cancer awareness.

Each of the Marshall players' purple jerseys will be auctioned off throughout the weekend, with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. Those interested in placing a bid who cannot attend the match can contact Ty Osborne: 304-696-6160 or osborne112@marshall.edu to place a bid.

"Fight Like Hal" honors Hal Messersmith, who was an assistant volleyball coach at UAB and husband to head coach Kerry Messersmith. He died of colon cancer this year and the "Fight Like Hal" promotion was set up in his name.

"This upcoming weekend is big, it's not just the conference stuff but also that we are doing it in memory of my friend Hal Messersmith," Jacobs remarked.

Many teams in Conference USA are adopting the "Fight Like Hal" match, replacing the Breast Cancer Awareness and instead, including all cancer awareness.

"Our idea was that all cancer should be getting money raised for it, not just a select few," Jacobs commented.